FDR and the American Crisis

November 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-Marrin blends biography and history in this masterly overview of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's leadership in two of the most dangerous crises of the 20th century. His outstanding writing draws on primary sources and includes ample background and detail about Roosevelt's personal and public lives and lengthy descriptions of the people and events that defined his presidency. Marrin is highly objective about Roosevelt, portraying him as neither saint nor villain. He explains how Roosevelt's upbringing and class, battle with polio, and ever-present political instincts influenced his decisions and gave him the confidence to confront often-intractable dilemmas, relieve suffering during the Great Depression, and wage World War II. However, Marrin also discusses some of the negative results of FDR's choices, including the continuation of Jim Crow and his reluctance to support anti-lynching laws, the exclusion of Jewish refugees and a tepid response to the Holocaust, and the tragic miscalculation of his ability to influence Joseph Stalin's postwar aggression in Eastern Europe. The author includes some of his own memories of FDR and concludes that the man deserves his historical rating as a great president. High-quality black-and-white photos in a clean layout enhance the text, and documentation is meticulous. This book far surpasses most extant titles about Roosevelt and provides a more nuanced evaluation of his life and presidency than titles such as Sudipta Bardhan-Quallin's Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A National Hero (Sterling, 2007). It will help readers better understand one of our most fascinating and influential presidents, and it deserves a place in all secondary collections.-Mary Mueller, Rolla Public Schools, MO

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2014
Grades 8-12 *Starred Review* The American Crisis, as defined by Marrin, is the razed landscape of postRoaring Twenties strife headlined by the 1929 Wall Street Crash, the Dust Bowl, and the Great Depression, which only the Second World Warnot the ballyhooed New Dealcould fix. It's a massive, thorny slab of history, but Marrin's superpower is crystalline clarity. He begins with the young, privileged FDR, raised from a lineage made rich off of whale fat and opium. If that odd fact perked your interest, just wait: Marrin spikes his prose with keep-you-reading bits of esoterica (Depression-era mothers abandoning babies at animal shelters, German dogs taught to bark, Mein Fhrer ). FDR, portrayed as a booming, brilliant sexist convinced of his myth before it was even written, becomes president as if preordained, and Marrin briskly depicts the courage he instilled within the populace in his first 100 days. His shining legacygovernment's expanded role in providing a social safety netis contrasted with a murkier view of his wartime stewardship. Was he suckered by Stalin? Did he do all he could to help the Jews? In contrast to Marrin's more concentrated works, such as Flesh and Blood So Cheap (2011), this strays from its protagonist for long stretches, and that will challenge readers. The payoff, though, is fantastic: frequent, illuminating photos; unimpeachable sourcing; and a breathtaking historical synthesis.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015
Marrin's biographies tend to go well beyond covering the lives of their subjects to provide rich examinations of the contexts of those lives. His latest is both a biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and an exploration of the first half of the twentieth century. The book examines the personal milestones in the life of FDR (his childhood, his marriage to his fifth cousin Eleanor, his early political career, his polio) as well as the larger political events that touched the nation, most notably the Great Depression and World War II. Roosevelt emerges from these pages as something of an enigma, exuding warmth and affability to the public while remaining aloof and distant in private, even with family and friends; however, some of that enigmatic quality can be attributed to some unsubstantiated assertions on Marrin's part. Ultimately, this book often seems to be as much a commentary on modern times as it is on the past, and here the discussion of, say, the ethics of civilian bombing seems extremely relevant to current world events. Notes, a bibliography, image credits, and an index are appended. jonathan hunt

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)